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Who's to blame for illegal file-sharing? Although in the past the immediate response has been to blame the individual physically downloading a movie, album, or video game, that could be changing. The new culprit may just surprise you. In some North ... American cities, a drunk driver isn't the only one fingered for wrong-doing. In many cases, the bar that got the perpetrator drunk is also found guilty of negligence, and can have its liquor license suspended for weeks, even months. Now, that idea is creeping up on the world of technology. Although the Record Industry Association of America, or ... (view more)

The recording industry must be smiling. A US federal judge has just ruled that making songs available on P2P networks violates copyright laws. The ruling comes from the case Atlantic v. Howell, in which the Recording Industry Association of America ... (RIAA) sued an Arizona resident for copy infringement. The defendant, whose IP address had been turned over to the court, was targeted since he made his songs available for download on the Kazaa P2P network. Members of the RIAA then hired MediaSentry Services to look into the contents of the shared folder; inside, the company found 2,329 MP3 tracks ... (view more)

A lawsuit filed in April alleging that Microsoft misled consumers with labels on Windows XP machines touted as "Windows Vista Capable" will be allowed by a federal judge to proceed. The suit alleges many of the computers labelled by the ... Redmond-based company as "Windows Vista Capable" couldn't run some of the highly touted features of Vista. After listening to oral arguments in Seattle, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman denied Microsoft's motion to dismiss two of the law suits claims: allegations that Microsoft's marketing violated Washington state's Consumer Protection ... (view more)

The success of Apple can be seen in the figures reporting 450,000 iPhones sold within its first two days of sales. For one consumer though, Apple has left out a major drawback of the iPhone: the limited battery life. Jose Trujillo is suing Apple, ... claiming that the company neglected to inform users of the limited life of the iPhone battery or that replacement batteries cost $86 each. (Source: iht.com ) Trujillo has filed his case in Illinois state court, accusing Apple of consumer fraud. Trujillo also hopes for class-action status in addition to subsequent monetary damages. Larry Drury, ... (view more)

At the Stanford Summit in Palo Alto, California, IT heavyweights such as Google and Apple discussed the U.S. patent system -- and not everyone was thrilled with the its current state. Google's head of patents, Michelle Lee, described the U.S. patent ... system as being "in crisis." She explained that there are too many businesses that use patents mostly as a means of making money. These businesses, called trolls, have proven profitable for many tech companies, but the large number of patents is backing up the system. "The Patent Office is overburdened," she said. "The volume of patents going in ... (view more)

Two recent court rulings indicate that judges are paying closer attention to how corporations conduct online and technological transactions with their customers. This is good news for consumers. (Source: Wired.com ) End User License Agreements ... (EULAs) are usually lengthy and full of all kinds of legalese. Almost all of them are one-sided and oppressive, offering consumers no choice but to take it or leave it. The first case of Gatton v. T-Mobile (PDF) involved a California Appeals Court that over ruled a provision in the EULA that required consumers to go through arbitration if they wanted to ... (view more)

Anyone who has heard one of Eminem's songs knows that making nice isn't his top priority. Now that Eminem has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Apple for selling his music on iTunes, it appears that the technology giant is no exception. ... On Monday, Eminem's producer Eight Mile Style and his copyright manager Martin Affiliated filed a suit which claims that Universal Music Group was never authorized to permit the rapper's songs to be downloaded from iTunes. Allegedly, Apple is not complying with the lawsuit's requests. "Eight Mile and Martin have demanded that Apple cease and desist ... (view more)

Recently, we reported on Australia's disinterest in Microsoft Vista. Now, the former crook colony is lashing out at another tech heavyweight, launching a lawsuit against web giant Google. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is ... suing Google for deception. The world's most popular online search engine is being accused of misleading users with links paid for by its advertisers. The ACCC feels that Google has allowed advertisers who falsely claim to be associated with other companies to place their links next to those of the companies that deny any relation to them. ... (view more)

Just what is the cost of wireless service exclusivity on the iPhone? Last Wednesday marked the first day in the hearing of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, where representatives called for a more open wireless system. ... Both Democrats and Republicans spoke out against the hostage-type contracts, in what's been dubbed the "iPhone hearing." Being discussed is the fact that the iPhone will only work on AT ... (view more)

Recently, a 22-year-old Chinese man died after his Motorola cell phone exploded. In the wake of such a tragedy, government regulators in south China are now discovering unsafe Nokia and Motorola phone batteries that can combust under certain ... conditions. As a result, phones by these companies have recently failed numerous safety tests in the country. Despite the very serious circumstances facing Nokia and Motorola, both are pointing fingers elsewhere. According to company representatives, the batteries found by authorities were unauthorized copycats. (Source: pcworld.com ) The timing and ... (view more)